The horses of Fashion Farm

Not my horses, although I thoroughly wish they were!

Remember the beautiful September 2010 Anthropologie catalog, with the very strong equestrian theming?


I fell in love with it instantly because I love horses, although I'm only a rinky dink once-a-weeker showing a very bad Long Stirrup and training at home with equally bad 2'3" courses. :D Well, the inspiration behind Anthropologie's equine love is probably coming from the Urban Outfitters CEO, Glen Senk. He's a AA circuit hunter rider and has his horses under the name of Fashion Farm. (Explanations: The AA circuit is the top circuit for hunters/jumpers in the US. The hunter classes are subjective judging classes where the basis of judging falls mostly on the horse itself and how well it jumps it's rounds - it's been said the scoring is 80% horse, 20% rider.)

Glen Senk, UO CEO, and Dynamic, showing at the 2007 Winter Equestrian Festival in the 36-50 Adult Amateur Hunters division.

Sandy and Japayla, schooling at the barn. Hrm. One of these things is not like the other.

I'd like to own a horse one day, but it's vastly expensive and even if I won the lottery, I don't know anywhere near enough horsemanship to be a good owner. (No idea about feeding. I know the very very basics about tack. No idea how to check for lameness in a horse.) So in the meantime, since the Winter Equestrian Festival just started up this weekend in Wellington, FL, I've been following the results there as eagerly as I follow my Chicago Bulls or Bears. The WEF is a two month show and most of the big name hunters and jumpers from the US are in Florida at this time (although a lot of the west coast riders and horses stayed on the west coast and are over at the HITS Thermal circuit in California). So while I follow my usual riders at WEF - the top riders (McLain Ward, Beezie Madden, Eric Lamaze), some up and coming riders I've been impressed with (the Jaynes from Our Day Farm, Maggie and Charlie, Nicole Shahinian-Simpson), and the the girls from the Horsepower series a few years back on Animal Planet (Brianne Goutal, Chelsea Moss, Maria Schaub, and some others that kinda were on the show - Jessica Springsteen and Addison Phillips), I've added Glen Senk and the Fashion Farm horses to my list as well. They're lovely! (I suppose if one can't buy a horse, one can buy clothes that eventually go to fund a horse as well ...)

Glen trains under Scott Stewart, one of the top hunter riders and trainers in the US. Glen is competing in the Adult Amateur Hunters 50+ division at WEF and has already gathered in a red ribbon (2nd) with Highland Park this weekend. While Glen competes in the Adult Am's, Scott Stewart competes the Fashion Farm horses in the other hunter divisons. Scott is a wonderful hunter rider and I love watching him ride.

Okay, I think I basically made this entire post just so I had a reason to post this following video. I was looking up examples of a handy hunter hand gallop. Handy hunter is a hunter class in which a horse has to show off maneuverability and rideability. The course will include elements such as trot jumps, hand gallops, and tighter turns than a basic hunter class. A hand gallop is a controlled gallop used in competitions. This is similar to what is asked for in equitation classes (classes where judging is on how good a rider's position is and how well they ride their horse) and there are frequently discussions on the horse forums I frequent about what constitutes a hand gallop, is an extended canter a hand gallop (NO) and riders blowing the hand gallop and crashing into the fence. Scott Stewart was recommended as a rider who does a lovely hand gallop and looking on youtube, I found Scott at the USHJA Hunter Derby Finals Handy Round, mounted on Summer Place, a Fashion Farm horse.



Sigh. 'tis a lovely sight.

ETA: Oops, was looking at WEF results and saw a horse named Summer Place showing with Pony Lane Farm and Maggie Jayne. Checked USEF and looks like Fashion Farm sold him to PLF. No worries, Fashion Farm also owns a horse named Another Place!